Meshtastic, is anyone using it in New Zealand?

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Meshtastic, is anyone using it in New Zealand?

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3297964 16-Oct-2024 09:14

Erayd:

I have been using these ones. They've been good performers, with a consistently good SWR (of the 13 I've ordered, all are ~1.3 @ 919.875MHz). Unlike many other AliExpress antennas I've encountered, these ones pleasingly don't seem to vary much between individual antennas.

Awesome. I was actually looking at these yesterday (with the same review "Tested with a VNA..."), but for some reason shipping to NZ wasn't available. Free shipping to NZ now, so I guess I will pick one up.

Do these come with any mounting hardware?

Erayd

40 posts

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#3297969 16-Oct-2024 09:42

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Awesome. I was actually looking at these yesterday (with the same review "Tested with a VNA..."), but for some reason shipping to NZ wasn't available. Free shipping to NZ now, so I guess I will pick one up.

Testing with a VNA is sensible. I generally test any antenna I buy before use, but it's worth being careful with AliExpress antennas in particular. This model seems reliably good, but I've encountered many others in the past that were not, and deviated wildly from the listed specs.

Do these come with any mounting hardware?

They do not. You get the antenna only.

I normally use 2x stainless steel hose clamps to mount them:

richms

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#3297988 16-Oct-2024 10:36

Erayd:

Testing with a VNA is sensible. I generally test any antenna I buy before use, but it's worth being careful with AliExpress antennas in particular. This model seems reliably good, but I've encountered many others in the past that were not, and deviated wildly from the listed specs.

I got a "900 MHz" yagi that when tested on a friends mini VNA just had a line that was all over the place, and performed worse when pointed at a node under 1km away than the stock little stick antenna that came with the t-beam did, which also was terrible on the VNA.

I got a grey 8dBi fiberglass thing from a seller that is no longer selling them. It was ok on the VNA - the dip was a little bit lower than where meshtastic operates but at least it had one. At the moment its cable tied to a lamp inside the house waiting for when I fix the deck that I need to put a ladder on to get onto the roof which was a lot worse than I thought.

Richard rich.ms

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3301579 25-Oct-2024 20:50

The Pi Hat which arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, my second node, a T114, has been put in a consolidated shipment with a bunch of other AliExpress orders and is on the slow boat from China (Singapore Post), so it'll likely be at least another week before that arrives.

After a bit of messing around and hanging the stock antenna out the window, I briefly saw about a dozen nodes, including Great Barrier North, but was unsuccessful sending any messages. Since then, not a single node has shown up in the list.

https://meshtastic.liamcottle.net/?node_id=426179304

richms

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#3301580 25-Oct-2024 20:52

SirHumphreyAppleby:

The Pi Hat which arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, my second node, a T114, has been put in a consolidated shipment with a bunch of other AliExpress orders and is on the slow boat from China (Singapore Post), so it'll likely be at least another week before that arrives.

Is your heltek the replacement one that fixes the issues? If not, then if it performs like my 2 old models then you are in for a lot of disappointment.

Richard rich.ms

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3301581 25-Oct-2024 20:55

richms:

Is your heltek the replacement one that fixes the issues? If not, then if it performs like my 2 old models then you are in for a lot of disappointment.

Yes, it's the v2. I'm taking a gamble and hoping there are no further issues with the revised board.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2838 posts

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#3307113 9-Nov-2024 08:29

Finally having some success. The necessary pigtail arrived and I have been able to use the omni recommended by @Erayd on a pole outside to see distant nodes. I'm still a few weeks away from getting a node up on my roof as I need to move the weather station and the antenna "J-pole" I ordered from AliExpress was welded incorrectly and impossible to point straight up. The seller was a complete arse and didn't want to issue a refund and after the dispute has now blacklisted me. Oh well :) Ordering another one during the 11.11 sale.

The T114 v2 has successfully communicated with other nodes as well, managing to trace route to @richms omni from the roof of Costco. That was the only one I tried while out and initially thought it had failed. When I got home I was pleasantly surprised to see a trace route being displayed.

I'm going to be out in Western Springs tomorrow, and there are a few nodes on the map in that part of the city, so I'm hoping to be able to see my movement throughout the day.

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JimmyK

6 posts

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#3317672 7-Dec-2024 08:50

Not sure if anybody else saw this, but i'm assuming they must be talking about deploying a meshtastic mesh though they don't mention it by name:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/535819/new-technology-could-keep-communications-going-during-disasters

psychrn

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#3363084 11-Apr-2025 20:17

Sorry guys late getting in on this thread.

Looking at getting a Lillygo T Deck Plus device.

Anyone got one ??

GZMCC. Lenovo Yoga C640. 8 gb Ram and 256Gb SSD, Cam Am Spyder 2016 F3 LTD. GoPro 5 Black, Samsung S22 Ultra, Huawei Watch D. Samsung S6 Lite Tablet, Amateur Radio Callsign ZL1CJH

richms

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#3363161 12-Apr-2025 13:39

Yeah but I am at sea level in a dip so only all my other devices show up. Even taking the tracker or the totally aweful capsules out for a drive and I see nothing else around Auckland.

There is more on the map out south but even when I drive up thru birkenhead and highbury I never see a connect to the ones that are on the map up there. Same for the one across the harbour in hobsonville.

Richard rich.ms

Erayd

40 posts

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#3363170 12-Apr-2025 13:53

richms:

There is more on the map out south but even when I drive up thru birkenhead and highbury I never see a connect to the ones that are on the map up there. Same for the one across the harbour in hobsonville.

Note that the Auckland region has moved to SHORT_FAST on frequency slot 16. If you haven't updated your settings accordingly, that may explain why you aren't managing to see any other nodes.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2838 posts

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#3363171 12-Apr-2025 13:59

I have three devices (Pi Hat, T114 and T1000-E). I went as far as building and outdoor unit based on the hat, which is ready to go on the roof. Unfortunately, I found out that unit had trouble sending long messages, which means I don't want to add it to the mesh and potentially cause issues for other users.

While there are plenty of units on the map, I was never able to establish reliable communication via other nodes.

I may try again with the SHORT_FAST setting.

Erayd

40 posts

Geek

#3363172 12-Apr-2025 14:02

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Unfortunately, I found out that unit had trouble sending long messages, which means I don't want to add it to the mesh and potentially cause issues for other users.

Heltec will replace the faulty T114 at no cost. This is a hardware design flaw.

Putting the one you have on the mesh won't cause issues for other users. It just won't communicate well for longer packets.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2838 posts

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#3363173 12-Apr-2025 14:06

Erayd:

Heltec will replace the faulty T114 at no cost. This is a hardware design flaw.

The Heltec is fine, it was ordered the day the fixed versions went up for sale. The Pi hat, however, also has a similar issue because it doesn't use a TCXO which is recommended for longer transmissions. That may no longer be an issue with short_fast.

Aaron2222

216 posts

Master Geek

#3366058 20-Apr-2025 19:22

Is anyone in Dunedin using Meshtastic?

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